


The Journal of Demise

by Colors_of_Summer



Series: The Journal of Demise [1]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Aged up characters, Alternate Universe - Reverse Falls, Character Death, Confusion, I'll explain the legends at the end of the chap, Implied Relationships, Insanity, One-Sided Attraction, Urban Legends, and warn of possible trigger warnings at the top, bookmark of demise, high school time for the kids, lots of gore, lots of misscommunication, lots of random student death, occult things, reverse falls -- freeform, this isnt going to be pretty folks, where are the parents in this do they know their kids are playing with demons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-09-02 10:29:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8664259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Colors_of_Summer/pseuds/Colors_of_Summer
Summary: “Is it another predictable story…?”Summer has not yet begun. A rumor goes around this season. No one knows the details, and they mustn’t ever be known. All that is known is that even if the blank book and the triangle bookmark should be found, one must never touch them.For it is the “Journal of Demise.”(Based off of the song series "Shuuen no Shiori/Bookmark of Demise")





	1. Act I: The Game of Demise

Gideon opened the door to the empty music room and glanced around. Of course, he was the first one there, as usual. He sighed and walked to one of the desks, pulling out his phone after setting his backpack down next to him. Opening a news article he had saved, though he already had the page memorized, he hummed quietly as his eyes glanced over the title.

_'BODY OF STUDENT FOUND AT GRAVITY FALLS HIGH SCHOOL'_

The bold letters of the article took up most of the screen, the mobile version of the news page was coded poorly so the fonts were the same, annoyingly large size as the desktop site. The news coverage itself was fairly basic; police investigating, not sure if it was a crime or an accident… Of course, Gideon knew better. He had gone and done his own research, sneaking around the school after everyone was told to go home, listening to the police talking about the case, and doing his own interviews. From what he had gathered, this is what had happened:

A female student was the first witness. Around ten in the morning, she had been playing softball in gym when the ball went flying out of bounds. She went to go retrieve the ball, having to crawl around in the tall grass when she bumped into someone.

Or rather, some _thing._

According to her statement, the thing she had bumped into was was the severed lower half of the body, which had apparently been standing on it’s own. When the police came to investigate, the body was already decomposing, though it was still bleeding, as though the student had just been killed.

Around the same time, a male student was heading out to the field after having gone inside to use the restroom. There were traces of blood indicating that the upper half of the body had been dragging itself several feet along the ground, as if it were moving towards its lower half. The eyes of the student were glazed over already, and the upper half had several open wounds. When the police arrived, the upper half of the student had already died, and still outstretched as it tried to get to the other side of the field.

The police concluded that the crime had happened less than an hour before the two parts of that thing had been found, yet not one person witnessed anyone who could have been the culprit. In other words, it was a “locked room murder”, with the room being the entire school.

“So it was true.”

Gideon nearly knocked his desk over from how sudden the words were spoken in his ear, a small shriek escaping his lips. He spun around to glare at the brunette who had snuck up on him, and nearly fell out of his chair at how close the other boy was to him. Dipper just raised an eyebrow at him before standing up straight. Gideon realized the other student must’ve been looking over his shoulder.

“Wha--how--” Dipper rolled his eyes and took the seat next to the smaller kid.

“You were so engrossed in your phone, I decided to see what had caught your attention. Really, I’m not surprised.”

Gideon was about to open his mouth to say something, when the door to the classroom was suddenly flung open, and a very red-faced Pacifica stormed in, followed by a rather bored looking Mabel.

“So, who’s the goddamn traitor, huh?!” Pacifica glared at the two boys, the blond giving her a questioning look, while the brunette already seemed bored.

“I wonder if we’re going to die, too…” Mabel looked almost wistfully out the window as she spoke, and her twin just rolled his eyes.

“Calm down,” Dipper said simply.

“CALM DOWN? Do you think I can _calm down_ in this sort of situation?!” Pacifica was quickly beginning to look like a tomato, something that amused the twins.

“Come on,” Gideon started, trying to keep his cousin from going on a complete rampage, and cutting the twins off from agitating the blond more. “We...we don’t know fer sure yet. Could just be a coincidence…” He trailed off, sounding unsure of his own words.

“There’s no way this is a coincidence!” Pacifica practically shrieked at the smaller boy.

 _“Calm down, I said!”_ Everyone quieted down instantly, looking to Dipper with shocked or fearful expressions, save for his twin. Dipper was now standing, his chair knocked over from how fast he had stood. He stared the cousins down, his expression dark though his words were almost sickly sweet. “You don’t want to die from getting any more involved in this, do you?”

There was a few moments of silence before Pacifica huffed and sat in a chair herself, arms crossed as she glared at the desk in front of her. Mabel slid into a chair behind her, her elbows on the table as she rested her chin on her entwined fingers, a dark smile painted on her lips.

“In any case, someone received a letter, which was seen by the outsider. In other words, that means it was all true, right?” All eyes turned to Gideon, who squirmed a bit under the sudden attention.

“Probably,” he nodded, digging through his backpack to find a notebook and flipping it open. “The Journal of Demise… A letter has already been sent to someone, right. So that means…” He looked up from the page, and the others shared glanced around the room. They were all thinking the same thing.

"After a week passes, one of us will die."

“Hey, what are we going to do? Like, what should we do?” Pacifica squirmed in her chair, starting to look a bit panicked.

“Fer now, the only thing we can do is wait ‘n see,” Gideon closed his notebook suddenly, the sound bouncing off of the music room walls.

“Wait, they’ll be able to find the culprit quickly, since it’s this kind of case, right?” Pacifica looked between the other three with sudden hope in her eyes, though she fiddled with the hem of her sweater. Her eyes landed on Dipper's, who mimicked the same sly, dark smile his sister had earlier.

“That is, if there _is_ a culprit.”

 

\-- _One day before the incident_ \--

Gideon stared blankly up at the ceiling. Summer was coming soon, but he wasn’t sure how much longer he’d last with these boring school days. His cousin, Pacifica, was out doing yoga in the forest. She stayed in Gravity Falls this year after the last summer, convincing her parents it was perfect for her chi, or something. His dad was probably out at his dealership or getting the Shack together for the first days of summer. Over all, the house was empty, and yet…

A shiver went down his spine. Gideon groaned and sat up, rubbing the dark bruising that had formed under his eyes from him all-nighter. Despite the house being completely empty, he kept feeling as though someone was watching him. He pulled on his vest over his t-shirt, and fixed his trucker hat on his head. He opened the door to his room and glanced behind him once more before heading out to get some breakfast. He couldn’t help but smile and feel a bit giddy.

The constant fear was leaving him exhausted, but… It was was something he had never experienced before, even in this strange town. Something new and exciting, despite the mix of pleasure and fear. After thinking for a bit, he decided he would refer to this feeling as “pessimistic”.

After getting his backpack and shoes on, Gideon left the house and locked up, opening an umbrella before walking out into the rain. A familiar feeling of boredom washed over him as he walked to the school. Everyday, it was the same, boring routine.

“Heeeey!” The boy quickly turned around to see one of his classmates run up to greet him. Gideon just glared at him. How dare this student interrupt his thoughts. The other boy just laughed. “You’re in a bad mood again, huh?”

“That’s none of yer business,” Gideon let his accent drawl, and turned to start walking again. Hopefully the other boy would take the hint and just go away.

“Even your reply in heartless,” the student laughed and followed, much to Gideon’s dismay. “Oh! By the way, you’re familiar with the rumors going around, right?” Gideon almost faltered his steps, but quickly worked to hide his surprise. If there was one thing he loved more than danger, it was rumors. The chance to ruin someone with a few words placed in the right person’s ear. He cleared his throat and looked at the student.

“Did somethin’ happen?” He asked almost innocently, though inside he could feel his blood boil with excitement.

“Well, no…” Oh. “Just listen. You’re friends with Mabel Gleeful, from the class next door, right?” Gideon cocked his head. Mabel Gleeful. She was considered the most beautiful girl in the town, and then some. There wasn’t anyone who didn’t know her. Even though Gideon wasn’t the most social kid, he had his reasons for being friends with her. One, his cousin was friends with her. Two, she was...odd, even by Gravity Falls standards. Three, she had a twin, Dipper, who was even stranger than her. Said twin only interacted with anyone his sister associated with.

“Well, I wouldn’t say we’re close,” he started.

“W-well, do you know about who she likes, or if she has a boyfriend? I was wondering if there were any rumors,” The student looked away with a flushed face, and Gideon mentally groaned. It was that again, after all.

“I haven’t heard anythin’, but if it was a girl like her, I think the whole school would know by now,” he said. The student nodded in agreement. “Well, actually, I did hear somethin’,” he started. He wasn’t going to let this chance slip away. “It’s actually kind o’ interestin’… You know the girl she’s always hangin ‘round?”

“Pacifica?”

“Yeah… It seems her imposter appeared.” On the outside, Gideon looked worried. On the inside, he was grinning like a madman. Payback for when Pacifica ditched him for shopping with Mabel the other day.

“I-imposter?” The boy looked shocked, almost skeptical. Gideon had to play this right.

“...No, ne’er mind. It’s stupid, after all. Just ignore what I said,” Gideon turned to walk away.

“Wait! No, tell me!” The student grabbed Gideon’s shoulder to keep him from running off. The smaller boy couldn’t help but let a small grin show itself. He took the bait.

“Just...don’t go tellin’ a soul, got it?” Those words were the secret to spreading rumors; ‘don’t tell anyone’. Everyone has someone they think it’s fine to tell these tiny bits of information to. Soon, without even knowing when or where the rumor started, it’s spread as something that could possibly be true.

“It seems several people witnessed it,” he began, using his hands to tell the story like it was a grand tale he was telling to an audience. “One o’ Pacifica’s classmates saw her from her car the other day. She was comin’ home after taking a makeup test, and thought it was strange to see ‘er since my house was the opposite way, so she sent Pacifica a text. She asked, ‘What’re you doing right now?’ and the reply was ‘I’m studyin’ with Gideon. Why?’. Thinkin’ she was playin’ a prank, the girl texted me as well. Of course, I was with my cous’. Apparently, a few other people saw the imposter in town, too.” Gideon stopped to look at the student, whose face was a few shades paler than normal.

“S-so, is this some kind of monster?” Gideon felt the familiar gaze on him, and did his best to ignore it.

“Maybe. But since there were so many witnesses, it can’t be a lie, right?” Oh, this was so much fun.

“I guess so,” the student said. “I guess this falls under one of those unbelievable stories, but anything can happen in this small town…”

The two students entered the school, and Gideon was smiling. This was going to be a good day.

By second hour, a note was being passed along. By lunch, students were openly talking about it in the halls, adding their own bits of information, twisting it with their own personal fears. Without being noticed, the whole school was interested in Gideon’s story, without knowing it was all made up to begin with.

Gideon made these types of stories on a weekly basis, some smaller than others. Using the school website, chainmail, forging letters… It was all just a game that everyone fell for. The more scary, the more the public ate it up. What was the slogan the media used? Ah, right. ‘If it bleeds, it leads’. Using a person’s tragedy, Gideon would direct it as a comedy to anyone who would listen. Humans loved these types of stories, that is why they love rumors.

By the end of the day, the rumor had made it’s way back to Gideon a number of times. It was a reaction one could only get as the best friend of the most popular girl in school.

“Then again, Pacifica will probably realize it soon enough,” Gideon yawned and stretched back in his chair before collecting his things and heading to the music room.

“Hey,” the boy yawned again. He really needed to catch up on sleep…

“No, not just ‘hey’,” came the familiar voice of his cousin. Of course, she was mad. “Look, I don’t care about your weird tastes, but can you please not use your own family for these kinds of things?” Her long blond hair was up in a pony, and bounced as she ranted, along with the millions of colorful bracelets she was wearing. Her sweater almost seemed to puff up with her anger.

“Look, I only meant it as an innocent prank,” he said before slipping into a chair. “If yer not careful, them other peps’ll see ya and think ‘it’s the imposter!’ with the way yer actin',” he grinned.

“I think it’s absolutely wonderful that Pacifica has a dual nature,” Mabel walked into the room with a smug smile on her face, looking right at Pacifica.

“Dual nature, you say… It sounds like you think I have a split personality or something…” Pacifica backed off from Gideon, turning her full attention to the brunette girl.

“Well, to be honest, it does seem like that sometimes,” Mabel offered a stick of gum to Pacifica, who took it glumly before popping a stick in her own mouth. A scoff was could be heard from across the room.

“As usual, Pacifica has a soft spot for my sister, huh?” Mabel’s twin was sitting on a desk with his arms crossed, fingers pulling his bangs out of his eyes and momentarily revealing more of the birthmark that gave him his name. “It’s not like lil’ Gideon here meant to tell such a pointless lie, right? Since in reality, there really does seem to be two of her.”

Gideon just groaned as his cousin and Dipper bickered, Mabel humming and taking out her phone as she watched them. The only reason why the four of them gathered was for one reason. They all came to talk about the different urban legends and occult-like stuff. It wasn’t because they were really good friends or anything, though they did bond over the stories.

“Oh, by the way,” the attention was turned to Gideon when the youngest boy suddenly spoke up. “For the past few days, I’ve been certain that I can feel someone’s gaze upon me, from the moment I wake up.”

“You sure it’s not just your family?” Mabel gave him a skeptical look, and glanced to Pacifica.

“The house is usually empty when this lazy guy finally gets out of bed,” Pacifica said. Ignoring that comment, Gideon continued.

“It’s like… Someone’s watchin’ me from behind, but when I turn to look, no one’s there. It’s been happenin’ a lot lately.”

“Something like the Hide Behind, maybe,” Dipper stated more than questioned. He was the second most interested in these types of things.

“If it was Merry, you’d be getting a phone call or something, right?” Pacifica added. That was something Gideon liked about this group. Even though he constantly started rumors, they could tell when he was being serious.

“There’s somethin' else that had been bothering me,” Gideon adjusted in his seat. “The other day, we played Kokkuri-san, right? The next day, I started to feel like someone was watchin' me.”

Kokkuri-san was a popular game in Japan that had started widespread hysteria across the country. It was like playing a Ouiji Board, though there wasn’t the chance of being possessed. To play, you needed a piece of paper, a pen, and a coin. At the top, you were to draw a traditional Japanese gate in red ink. On one side, you write ‘yes’, and the other you write ‘no’. Then, you write three rows of letters from A to Z, and below that one row of numbers from zero to nine. After opening a window or door to allow Kokkuri-san to enter, you place the coin on the gate, and each person playing puts an index finger on the coin. To call the spirit, you must say, ‘Kokkuri-san, Kokkuri-san, if you’re here, please move the coin’. To end the game, you must say, ‘Kokkuri-san, Kokkuri-san, please return home’. The coin moves to ‘YES’ then comes to rest on the gate. Once you are sure Kokkuri has left, you must destroy the paper and spend the coin before the end of the next day. Overall, it was a very well thought out game.

They had played the game to find the ‘Journal of Demise’. A true rumor that was only told in the Gravity Falls High School. It is said that each and every urban legend in the world is written in the Journal. The Bookmark is placed inside the Journal. The legend goes that on the page where the bookmark is place, that page is said to become reality.

In the music room the four students used for their meeting, just over thirty years earlier, an ‘inexplicable murder’ had occurred. Every student had heard the story at least once, as it had been handed down like a ghost story. Why had such an incident happen?

They had obtained the “Journal of Demise”.

The sole purpose of the gatherings was currently to look for the Journal. About a week ago, they had found a notebook. It seemed to be an exchange diary from those who had died almost fifty years ago. They seemed to be a group of students who like gathering urban legends as well. The rumors in the book were so different than the ones they knew about. Something else that was recorded was very important--how to obtain the ‘Journal of Demise’ and ‘Bookmark of Demise’.

They had to perform Kokkuri-san, going by certain rules.

Everything after that page, however, had been torn out or destroyed in some way. The notebook proved, however, that the Journal and Bookmark did exist, and that was all that they needed.

“Anyway, the last attempt failed, right?” Gideon said.

“Failed?” Pacifica frowned, not liking where this was going.

“We didn’t get the Journal or Bookmark, so it was a failure. Though, we didn’t exactly follow the rules to a tee, I suppose,” Gideon muttered the last bit under his breath. “I say we try it one more time.”

\--And so began the game of demise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kokkuri-san: explained how to play in the story. Kokkuri-san is less dangerous than a Ouiji Board since the spirit is a trickster spirit from the Shinto religion. Kokkuri-san is a mix between a fox, dog, and raccoon (kok=kistune/fox, ku=inu/dog, ri=tanuki/raccoon(dog)). the fox is either a trickster or teacher the dog is loyal and protecting, and the racon dog is full of mischief. In this story, the spirit Kokkuri-san will be replaced with Ouza(old Arabic for "the eye", aka Bill Cipher)  
> Merry's phone: The original story is about a girl moving in to a neighborhood and throwing away a childhood doll in the process. One day when she is home alone she gets a telephone call, "I am Merry. Now... I am at the dump site". The calls continue until 'Merry' says that she's at the front door. The girl goes over and opens the door, nobody is there. She then gets another call, and the voice says "I'm right behind you"
> 
> Updating weekly, as to Kukkuri-san's demands. (Hopefully I'll keep up...)


	2. Act II, part I: Solitary Hide and Seek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Be careful and follow Ouza's rules closely. You aren't his first victims, after all...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate title: Gideon ya fucked up  
> (Warnings for anxiety attacks, character deaths, and mystery! -wiggles fingers mysteriously- ooooooooo)

Gideon was curled up in his bed, a blanket pulled over his head. His body wouldn’t stop trembling, and the sound of his heart thumped painfully in his ears. He pulled his knees up closer to his body as though the gesture would keep him safe from the outside world. Sweat beaded up on his brow and the back of his neck, sending a shiver down his spine. Despite the blanket that was covering him, the feeling of being watched by hundred of eyes wouldn’t leave his mind.

The boy closed his eyes tightly and thought back to the day before. They had failed again, and had gotten involved in a terrible game, the “Demise Game”. Sure, they had gotten further than the first time; actually managing to ask the spirit questions this time. They had asked mundane questions, like what another had for dinner, about each other’s crushes (since Gideon had remembered that student asking about Mabel), silly things like that. But those questions had been things someone could just as easily guess, but one question had freaked them all out with it’s accuracy. They had decided to ask a question only two students in the whole school would know the answer to.

_“What is Dipper’s real name?”_

The question came to a shock to Gideon and Pacifica, who just thought the twins parents were bad at coming up with original names. For whatever reason, the thought of ‘Dipper’ being a nickname never crossed their minds. Despite that, the quarter began to move, and everyone held their breaths.

_‘M A S O N’_

The coin came back to rest at the gate, and the cousins looked at each other before turning to Dipper. His eyes were staring down at the coin, jaw clenched in annoyance. After that, everything went wrong.

A sudden blast of wind came through the window, causing shivers to go down everyone’s spines. The tv in the class suddenly came to life, the image showing nothing but static. If one looked close enough, they would notice the silhouette of a student barely visible through the snow. A loud voice cut through the other sounds, almost as though it was being spoken directly into the minds of the kids. It sounded as though multiple people were talking over each other, though the words were clear.

_“Due to a single traitor, a “fox”, the game has begun. To reach the end of the game, you must kill the "fox." If you are unable to find the "fox", everyone dies. While searching for the "fox", you must follow Ouza's demands. Ouza's demands are delivered via letter. You are allowed one week to fulfill Ouza's demands. In the case that you ignore the demand, you will die. If the contents of the demand are seen or discovered by an outsider, that person will die. Until you reach the end of the game, there is no escape. If you wish to get out of the game, you must abide by the terms and reach the end. Now, let this fun ‘Game of Demise’ begin.”_

 

Gideon suddenly sat up, grabbing the remote to the tv in his room and turning on the electronic. His thoughts were running a thousand miles a minute and his heartbeat seemed to only get louder, and he needed some sort of noise to help him back to reality. The feeling of someone watching somehow grew worse, and he felt as though he was being watched from every angle, being analyzed and monitored.

_Don’t look don’t look don’t look don’t look don’t look don’t look don’t look don’t look don’t look don’t look don’t look don’t look don’t look don’t look don’t look don’t look don’t look don’t look don’t look--_

His mind was practically screaming at this point, and he fought back the urge to scream back. He grabbed his blanket and pulled it back over his head as he buried his way back under the covers. He gripped his sheet and tried to will himself to sleep, or at least calm down. Soon enough, his alarm for school went off, and he mustered up the energy to get out of house as fast as possible, to get away from those eyes.

 

“Heeeey, Gideon!” A hand suddenly came down on his shoulder, causing the small boy to shriek and turn around quickly from his locker. The student was the same one from the day before, who had asked about Mabel. His happy grin quickly turned to worry at Gideon’s reaction to him. “Woah, uh… My bad… Dude, you okay?”

“Yeah, um, no… I just... didn’t sleep much last night,” Gideon did his best to try to laugh it off, but the sound was a lot more strained than he had hoped. He hoped this guy would leave him alone for once. After everything he had been through the night before, there was no way he’d be able to deal with playing 20 Questions right now. “You need somethin’? I’m not up to chattin’ much this mornin’,” He sighed and opened his locker, too tired to notice the letter that had fallen out.

“Hey, what’s this?” Gideon looked over and watched the student pick up the letter that fell at his feet. His blood immediately ran cold. In the game they had played, instead of calling on Kokkuri-san, they had entered some sort of game with ‘Ouza’.

Ouza’s demands are delivered via letter.

“Oooh, could this be... a LOVE letter?” Completely oblivious, the student laughed and began opening the envelope. Gideon was in too much shock to process what was happening, his heart blocking out almost all noise. He swallowed thickly, only snapping out of his trance when the student laughed. “Hey, Gideon, you never get a love letter before or something? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

 _‘What should I do,’_ he thought. _‘If someone else sees Ouza’s demands, they’re supposed ta die… Should I test it? Could be a prank, after all…’_ After tossing the idea around a few times, Gideon finally gave a slight nod, putting on the best smile he could muster. “Don’t…tell anyone, got it?”

The student grinned and opened the letter, though his face quickly contorted into one of horror upon reading what was written. After almost a full minute of silence, the other boy finally spoke up.

“What is this?” A shiver went down Gideon’s spin. The voice sounded so disgusted and horrified, causing Gideon to regret his decision almost immediately. The boy then simply handed the letter to it’s owner and pushed past the confused boy, walking down the hall with a posture that seemed as though he had lost his very will to live.

Then, that incident occured durring lunch.

In which he was killed, body cut clean in half. Just as the rules of the game had said, the outsider was killed without remorse. The death was definitely related. There was no mistake; this rumor was definitely the real deal.

 

School was closed for the rest of the week, but even if it hadn't been, Gideon was in no shape to leave his room. His father was worried, but luckily left him alone, probably since it was a classmate that had died. Pacifica tried to talk to him a few times, but he ignored her and eventually she left him alone as well. He was in a constant state of paranoia, as well as constantly questioning himself. He had received the demands, the student had died after reading it’s contents... Did I really kill him, the thought always seemed to come back to him, no matter how hard he tried to ignore it.

A loud ‘thump’ caught his attention.

Glancing over, his eyes went wide as he gazed at the source of the noise. A black leather bound book with a six-fingered hand on the front cover. On the spine, a number of symbols had been etched in. Sticking out from the top, a bookmark was placed a little more than halfway inside.

Gideon almost flung himself to the other side of his room, back pressed to a corner as he tried to get as far away from the new object. His heart picked up speed again and rang in his ears, his chest tightening up painfully. Images of the student flashed in his mind, and he swallowed down the bile that quickly rose in his throat, hands covering his mouth just to be safe.

Some time later, the blond found himself under his covers yet again. He had fell into a daze, losing track of time until a flash of lightning lit up the room. Just as he began to stir to check the time, the tv lit up with, static noise filling the room with only color bars as the picture on the screen. As a voice began speaking, Gideon was reminded of a rumor he had seen circling the internet a while back. A special broadcast that listed the people who died that day, and those who were going to die the next day.

The color bars were soon replaced with a picture of a landfill, and the words ‘NNN News Broadcast’ appeared at the top. A faceless person appeared on the right side, and began repeating the words that scrolled across the scene.

_“Good evening. This is a special broadcast. We will be announcing the victims thus far. The person who always blamed his brother. The person who kept a pet rabbit in room because his life was too lonely. The person who became a monster. The person who fell into the abyss. The person who peeked into another person’s letter. Moving on, we will be listing tomorrow’s victims. The person who spoke to someone directly about something they’ve always been curious about. The person who ignored the demands made. The person who skipped school and played all alone. The person who is turning pale at this very moment. Tomorrow’s victims are these people. We pray for your happiness in the next world. Good night.”_

The tv shut off soon after, the only noise left being the rustle of pages. Glancing over to the book, Gideon’s eyes widened when he saw the Journal opened to the page where the bookmark had been placed.

‘One-Man Hide and Seek. Author: Gideon’, were the only words visible on the pages. Picking up the book, Gideon slowly pulled out the letter he had been given almost a week ago, and began working on preparing the demands that had been written out.

 

The rules were fairly simple, and written out neatly on the letter. First, a stuffed toys with limbs was needed. Gideon debated sneaking into Pacifica’s room to see if she had one, but after reading ahead quickly decided it wasn’t worth it. Digging around in his closet, he found an old bear stuffed animal that he had received years ago, but never threw out. For some reason, it wasn’t that he was attached to it, but was afraid of throwing it out.

Next was rice. Sneaking into the kitchen and glancing at his phone, he realized that his father was spending the night out playing cards with friends. Pacifica seemed to be out as well. It was well past midnight, and even though the house was empty, Gideon felt an intense gaze watching him closely. With a sigh, he gathered the rice and a cup of salt water, and headed to the master bathroom.

The last things to be gathered were a needle, red thread, scissors, and a carpenters knife. With everything gathered, it was finally time to start the game.

First, using the scissors to cut open the stomach, he removed the majority of the stuffing and replaced it with the rice and a few nail clippings. Next, he stitched up the mouth, limbs, and stomach with the red thread. The stitching was pretty poor, but even then the doll had gone from an innocent toy to a grotesque item.

After examining his work, he set the doll down and picked up the cup of salt water, placing it in his hiding spot. Next, it was time to name the doll. A few moments later, he decided on the name and turned off every light in the house before returning to the bathroom. The only thing he left on was the tv in his room. He picked up the doll, giving it one last glance over, before taking a deep breath.

“Gideon is first to be it, Gideon is first to be it, Gideon is first to be it,” as he spoke, he walked to the bathtub he had filled with water, dunking the doll under. The water distorted it’s face to one of pain, bubbles escaping the fabric as though it was living and trying to get air. A shiver went down his back, though he had long ago began ignoring the feeling of being watched.

Leaving the doll in the tub, he walked to the living room and took out the knife, and counted to ten. “Ready or not, here I come,” he said, and walked back to the bathroom. Picking up the doll, he stabbed the bear in the stomach.

“Next is xxx’s turn to be it, next is xxx’s turn to be it, next is xxx’s turn to be it.” With a sigh, the boy wiped off the wet knife and brought it back to the kitchen before heading to the closet, where the cup of salt water was waiting. Once he closed the door, he huddled up in the corner, pulling the cap down on his head. His mind began to wander, going back to questioning the recent events.

After some time had passed, he sighed and picked up the glass. “I should go get the doll, I guess…” He lifted the glass to his lips, but stopped when he heard the sound of floorboards creaking in the halls in a steady rhythm. He set the glass down and quickly took out his phone. No messages saying that anyone was coming back, so why was there something walking in the house? The sounds were slowly coming closer, but then stopped all together. Just as Gideon thought the threat was gone, the door to the closet suddenly opened.

“N-no, why are you…?!”

 

“--I foooooound you.”

The next few minutes flashed by in a haze. Gideon was forced out of the closet somewhat easily, and thrown against the far wall. After catching his breath, his eyes landed on the scissors that had been left on his floor. He tried to grab them, but a foot quickly came down on his hand.

“It’s pointless, Gideon,” the words were cold and full of hate.

 _‘Why is this happening? Were you the culprit…?’_ The thoughts swirled in his mind as he was kicked back, a weight coming down on his torso soon after. The knife was raised up high, the silver glittering in the light of the tv. When it came down, the boy couldn’t even muster the energy to scream.

The weight was gone as soon as it had appeared, and Gideon slowly pulled out his phone, trying to stay conscious enough to find the number he needed.

 

The sound of the tv filled the room.

_“This is a news flash. Today, in Gravity Falls, the body of a male student was found. He was inside of his room, with a carpenters knife stabbed into his body, and his phone clutched in his hands. The victim also seemed to be the classmate of the murder victim last week. Police suspect both cases were committed by the same culprit, and have opened an investigation--”_

The boy grinned as he shut off the tv, the room becoming dark once again.

 

“Next, it’s your turn.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NNN Broadcast: Some time after midnight, a broadcast will show on the TV, listing the names of people who have died that day in your area, and the people who are going to die the next day. I made references to other fandoms in the ones who had died. You get a cookie if you can figure out what they all are correctly :3
> 
> One man hide and seek: Long story short, you're summoning a demon to possess the doll you're playing with. After some time while you're hiding, you are to find the doll and spit salt water onto it. If the doll finds you first, its game over, and the demon possesses you instead.
> 
> I couldn't wait to upload this chapter. Also, I'm having issues with writing Gideon's accent. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to suggest/correct me. Next chapter will be up sometime next week, as I have to update another story first.


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